Protective helmets for use in military or other applications such as aboard an aircraft are well known in the art. It is important in such applications that the helmet be securely mounted on the wearer's head. Otherwise, the helmet may shift its position or even come off in the case of windblast, for example. Previous helmets generally have an adjustable chinstrap as well as a napestrap for preventing shifting of the helmet relative to these portions of the wearer's head. The necessity of separately adjusting the chinstraps and napestraps of these helmets is an obvious inconvenience.
Recently there has appeared a helmet having a one-piece chinstrap-napestrap assembly in which a pair of napestraps secured to opposite sides of the nape region of the helmet interior cross each other to extend around the lower periphery of the helmet and pass outwardly through slots formed in the front of the helmet to receive the ends of a chinstrap. Adjustment of the chinstrap at the front of the assembly produces a simultaneous adjustment of the crossing napestrap portions at the rear of the assembly without the necessity for independent adjustment of the latter strap portions. Although the one-piece assembly described above overcomes some of the deficiencies of the prior assemblies described further above, there nevertheless remains room for improvement. Not only can the crossing strap portions cause chafing, but they do not positively define the spacing between the wearer's neck and the back of the helmet.